I Believe In Us - (McPricely)

Chapter 2

   As another Elder shared their further thoughts, Kevin looked away from Elder Church and back to his notebook as if nothing happened. Nothing did happen, it was just confusion on Church's side, mistaking his interest in Connor's speaking for attraction to him or something of the sort.

   Connor on the other hand was very aware of his attraction to Kevin and had became fairly skilled in being subtle about his glances at him. He swore for a moment that Kevin was staring at him from across the table, but he knew thinking about it would make things worse. Kevin was clearly straight, and so was he. Or, at least he was trying to seem like it. Acting was his dream career, but he didn't expect to be forced to do it all the time, especially not in this way.

   "Is there any way that this story is similar to one in the Book of Mormon?" Elder Neeley asked with curiosity. An uncomfortable silence hung over the room like a dark cloud once again. None of them were quite sure how to handle the discussion of the Book of Mormon anymore. It was clear they all believed to some degree, but being exposed to the struggle of the people of Uganda compared to their own privileged upbringing made them question why things were so unfair. The questions changed to finding holes and confusing bits in the writing of the Book of Mormon that made them have doubts. They'd all collectively agreed they would try to work through these questions, and use the new book to help the people of the village and further out.

   "Well... I don't really know if we're talking about the book of Arnold in relation to the Book of Mormon," Connor faltered.

   Kevin scoffed, prompting a head turn from all of the others directly to him. "Please, Elder Cunningham hasn't even read the real book," he said, a bit frustrated upon remembering how much attention Arnold had received, despite never having read any of what he was sent to Uganda to teach in the first place.

    Elder Schrader's brow furrowed. "He's really never read the book? How was he even allowed to go on a mission?" He puzzled.

   "Who knows, he's a great liar. We've all seen it firsthand. This book wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for his lying," Kevin pointed out. Not even he was sure where his sudden frustration was coming from. Even if his prior selfishness was wearing off, he still had the ability to become jealous and spiteful occasionally.

   "Then thank Heavenly Father it did! The book of Arnold is giving more help to the Africans than the Book of Mormon ever could," Elder Thomas pointed out.

    Kevin turned to him, "I just find it a bit weird that somehow a book built entirely on lies is the most helpful thing we can give these people. Don't you think Elder Poptarts?" He countered, coming off far more sarcastic than he intended.

   Elder Thomas sunk into his seat, and fixed a strand of his blonde hair that had fell out of its neat placement, clearly annoyed with Kevin. "Yeah I guess you're kind of right, I dunno," he mumbled.

    Elder Church piped up from across the table to defend Poptarts. "Well what do you expect us to do? Teach them the Book of Mormon which none of them can relate to? That would be ridiculous," He spoke, his thin arms crossed.

   Connor sat in silence picking at his nails. As district leader, he felt like he should have some epic peacemaking speech to give, but his head was like an empty room, without a single thought coming to mind. He knew the others were right, and he wasn't sure what triggered the pettiness from Elder Price. Despite this, he didn't want to risk saying anything that would further upset him.

   "It's a lose-lose situation either way. It feels like we're just sitting here every night pretending to understand a single thing in this darn book. I mean it mentions AIDs out of the blue every 3 pages!" Kevin complained, "It makes no sense!"

   Connor finally spoke up in a small voice. "Well it doesn't really matter if it's not really coherent. It makes sense to them. Elder Cunningham had the most experiences with the villagers firsthand," he said slowly, his voice nearly cracking multiple times. "So, the struggles that the characters go through in this version are ones that people can genuinely relate to and find something of value in."

   Kevin's shoulders dropped. Connor was right. Somehow he was able to use his masterful talking skills yet again, silencing Kevin in return.

   "What we have to say about it doesn't really help, we just need to try our very best to learn the stories, understand their morals and hopefully repeat them!" Connor finished with confidence. It was nice to see the others around him nodding in agreement. He looked across the table to Kevin who had a look of guilt on his face.

   Kevin brushed his hair back in the manner that always had the ability to give Connor butterflies. He mouthed a quick 'turn it off' to himself as Kevin responded to him, "you're right. I'm sorry." Connor couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise. All it took was a little bit of speaking from him to calm Kevin and end the debate? Perhaps he was better at commanding a room than he previously believed. "I just need a minute guys, go ahead and continue the discussion without me. I wasn't really much help with it anyway," Kevin encouraged as he pushed his chair in and swiftly exited the room.

   Connor was left leaning over his seat, watching Kevin as he retreated into his room. After seeing the door shut with one final thump, he spun back around to the other Elders at the table. "I should go say something to him, I'm gonna go say something," Connor rambled as he stood up.

   "No, no, Elder McKinley sit back down," Church sighed as he dragged Connor by the sleeve back into his seat. "He needs a second to cool off," he warned him.

   Connor fell back into his seat, still concerned about Kevin. He couldn't bear to see him upset, especially if he ended up being upset with Connor. He'd find a way to talk to him after dinner, even if the others thought he shouldn't.

   "Elder McKinley you worry about people too much!" Elder Neeley teased, clearly not understanding the extent of the concern Connor felt. "You don't need to be fixing other people's problems all the time," he said, chuckling.

   Elder Davis spoke up from across the table, adding, "sometimes I think all you do is tap dance and worry about us. Take a break man!" This comment stirred up a chorus of laughter and jokes from the rest of the group, leaving Connor to fake a smile and laugh along with the rest of them. 

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Author's note: Hello! I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Just wanted to apologize if I've spelled anyone's name wrong yet, feel free to correct me if I do. There's also a chance I get a few bits of information about the original story wrong as this story continues. I've gone to see the show on Broadway before (which it was incredible may I add, and definitely my favorite show I've got to see) but I do not remember every detail perfectly. I was way too distracted by all of the incredible small details in the show to fully pay attention to the plot the whole time. Anyway, thanks for reading! :)